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 * Topic of the Day / Week: **Week 2: Strategic Planning**
 * What did I learn in class this week? In class we learned about SWOT analysis, and about how a company can look at different things to see what they are doing good and what they need to improve on from an outside prospective.
 * What did I find interesting? Explain. I really found it interesting when Mr.Cocoa came he gave us the dots and had us connect them and then he challenged us to shorten the amount of lines we used, from that I learned that sometimes when you think too large things can be too hard to understand. The only thing I was really questioning is how can I use the strategic planning in real life, and can it apply to any situation?
 * What did I find interesting? I found the SWOT Analysis to be interesting because I have never done one before, and it is a good way to take a look at a business and how good they are performing.
 * What questions do I still have about what I learned? I do not have anymore questions. Completing the project helped alot.


 * 1) Topic of the Day / Week: **Week 4: Shareholder Value / Finances**
 * 2) What did I learn in class this week? I learned that a business takes their total assets and subtract them from their total liabilites to find out how much money the company has made also known as their net worth.
 * 3) What did I find interesting? I found interesting that a simple thing such as a balance sheet can be the key factor to running a successful business.
 * 4) What questions do I still have about what I learned? Does a company have to pay dividends to the shareholder if they do not want to? Also, why don't businesses pay dividends?
 * 5) One question I still have about the Hershey company is what are some other opportunities that you have that we don't know? What is the Hershey Company's net worth. I would also like to know what does Hershey do to bring appreciation back to their stock and to their business if they are always top ranking in charts.

Topic of the week: Trends
 * What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples. I mised practically all of this weeks class due to sports and having my wisdom teeth removed. I did read over the powerpoint notes by Mr. Jon Strande.
 * What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples- I found interesting that under global trends, none of the trends have to do with cell phones or electronics that the population has become addicted to or inneed of. Also, I found interesting that for the 2011 New Year's Resolution most peoples top choice or idea was to "have more fun". It just seems like now days and in this society people lose sight of hard working and things like finding a job, getting their own place, settling down with a spouse and their first this is to have fun. To me it feels like our society cares less about what matters the most and we focus on the things that matter not the least, but things that do not matter as much.


 * 1) ** At the top have this heading: Week of October 3, 2011 (Week 7 - Market Research) **
 * 2) What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples. I learned this week in class that companies used something known as ethnography to find the idea customers interest, dislikes and just overall oppressions to make a product that would be suit the general population and their wants. For basically every product that was ever produced, a ethnography was done to help understand the culture. Some specific examples are for instance with the Hershey Company and their productions of chocolates, they come up with many ideas of candy because of consumer feedback, that is why the things put in our candy is not in similar candy of Hershey's in some countries. Another example is with cell phones, companies saw that people liked being able to access or be on the internet even when they weren't able to be around a computer and now nearly all cell phones have the internet.
 * 3) What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. What I find interesting is the fact that there is a different ethnography complete for different type of "populations", "cultures", and "intellects." Also, I found interesting is that Milton Hershey does ethographies also when coming up with new rules, they saw that most of our population was "obese" so they implamented a plan to cut back on obesity, so they now give fat free items and only allow us to have one main item for lunch.


 * 1) ** At the top have this heading: Week of October 10, 2011 (Week 8- Market Analysis) **
 * 2) What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples. This week in class, we learned and talked about how a company decides what kind of product or the what the next product should entail. For instance, people have different taste, so what people from the United States like someone in Japan might not like so a company have to make a product slightly different to fit the consumer needs and wants to be able to make profit. Mr. Martin from the Hershey Company came to go more indepth in this topic by explaining how people from Mexico does not like the stuff that we like so the ingredients that are used in products made in Hershey vary.
 * 3) What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. I found interesting that for every new product created it takes a long time to make because you must get a lot of information and find out what people want. and it takes a lot of research. Also, I found interesting that in Mexico, the people won't spend over a certain amount of pesos on a product and that the people like spicy products.


 * ** At the top have this heading: Week of October 17, 2011 (Week 9- Product Development) **
 * What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples. This week in class I learned about the steps to create a product and abot how the people determine everything about a product. Products may be thought of by a random person or one day a group of employees may gather and come up with a product. This is a difficult process because the consumers wants change and vary often. Lastly, I learned that it is extremely important to know your competitors.
 * What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. One thing that I found interesting was how after a company puts so much time and money into research for creating a new product, still the product isn't guaranteed a success. I also found interesting how some products, people will not buy such as energy drinks and stuff because people do not believe that the Hershey company can create a quality product such as an energy drink since confection is their speciality. Lastly, I found interesting that Hershey used to create pudding cups, that was something that I was never aware of and I have lived in Hershey since 2008.

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 * ** At the top have this heading: Week of October 24, 2011 (Week 10- Trial Production) **
 * What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples
 * ====This week in class, we learned about Deming's 14 points and about ways and things that could be done to strengthen your business and reduce the possibility to fail as a company. At the Hershey Company, the students learned about the process of the trial production. Stores do on the job training and some jobs also provide further education for their employees. ====
 * What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples
 * ==== I found interesting how much sugar is used with the businesses to make candy. I also found interesting how when you look at Deming's 14 points they can be incorporated into basically any situation. For instance, sports teams have captains, to help run the team and to make sure that things are running well and that they are leading by example . ====
 * At the top have this heading: Week of October 31, 2011 (Week 11- Branding) **
 * 1) What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples.
 * 2) In class, I learned that a brand can go a long way. Branding is more than the logo, it is the reputation a product shares with its customers. We are exposed to brands every where we go. For example, Milton Hershey has their own brand, Nike has there own brand, and Adidas.
 * 3) What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. I found interesting how we were given a little part of the image and we could identify most of the brands. I also found interesting how the reputation or popularity of a brand can be the determining factor of if we use a product or not. Like when we see the the "K" people may think of Kellog.


 * ** At the top have this heading: Week of November 28, 2011 (Week 14- Special Events) **
 * 1) What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples. This week in class we learned alot. We learned how companies work with other companies or sponsor special events to help advertise for a product. For example, the Hershey Company has the KissMobil which advertises the Hershey Kisses. Also, for example the Hershey Company works along with the NCAA to sponsor the Final 4.
 * 2) What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. Hershey works with producers and on movie sets to help them, and for the movie to get help in return. It is like a "if you scratch my back I will scratch your type of gig". For example, the Hershey Company advertised the Ironman 2 movie on the Resses cup rapper, but in the movie Hershey's product was protrayed throughout. I also found interesting how the Hershey Company is trying to get people to eat Smores at tailgating parties. It does not seem like a hyper product choice.


 * 1) ** At the top have this heading: Week of December 5, 2011 (Week 15- Product Safety) **
 * 2) What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples.This week, in class I learned about product recalls can be crucial and costly to the business. I also learned that the slightest thing can cause a product to be recalled. For example, Fisher Price had to recall their toy cars because the wheels were too small and ruled as hazardous to children.


 * 1) What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. I found interesting how when we did the simulation in class, how much energy and time it takes to find out what caused the recall and to see where the product has been placed to have it removed off of the shelves. Also, I found interesting that it can cause millions of dollars to have a product recalled off of the shelf. It surprised me to know that the Hershey have had to recall products after how careful they are with the way they handle their products and the strict rules forced upon the employees to keep the facilities clean.

Week 16- Product Components I learned that packaging can increase sales and be used as advertisment to attract customers and catch their eye because statistics prove that an average shopper spends 59 seconds on the asile. Therefore, the better the packaging the better the Company has to catch a customers eye. Something that I found interesting was that most people buy the product because of the packaging rather then because they want or need the product. Additionally, most purchases occur while in store rather then through premediation.

Week 18 - Product Planning

This week in class we talked about product planning. I learned that there were many types of product planning. The purpose of product planning is to help create new products and make decisions to make sure products are where they need to be in the less amount of touches and in an appropriate time. So that companies do not over produce, they do forecasting to save them time and money. But companies such as the Hershey company just do mass productions since their product can still taste good up to 18 months after they were produced. I found interesting that companies can measure success through: waste, casefill, inventory turns (how fast products can be turned to cash), the amount of sales, and manufacturing efficiency.

This week in class I learned the process it takes and the time it takes to make products. Each product has it own unique process, for instance, the process to make a popsicle is not the same as to make a gallon of regular ice cream. Some of the process are simplier than others. I learned that pop sicles was created by an 11 year old boy, and that back in the day they were for rich people mainly. What did I find interesting? Give 2 specific examples. I found interesting that H.B Reese was the inventor of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Lastly, I also found interesting that Elvis Presely had his own Peanut Butter Banana Cream Reese Cup made.
 * 1. On your Wiki Page (right side of the page) __WRITE A PARAGRAPH FOR YOUR LEARNING LOG ENTRY (5 - 7 sentences)__ discussing the following items about //this week's discussion.//**
 * 1) ** At the top have this heading: Week of January 16, 2012 (Week 19 - Production) **
 * 2) What did I learn in class this week? Give 2 specific examples.

I found this week to be very boring in terms of what we learned. I learned that companies put variety packs of products together at the warehouses. I also learned that products that are high in demand are usually placed at the ends of the warehouse so they can be easily accessed. No it was not fun, especially sitting in a small room. The guy had just a little sense of humor, but overall it was not. I did like receiving the candy at the end though. Yes, it was very boring. The speakers were very monotoned. They had no passion. The room was warm and the speaker was not very interesting in my opinion. The best part about it was hearing his tips on being successful and striving to achieve the things that you want to acheive in life. To improve the experience, I could have brought something to write down notes on and to draw on to keep my attention. It was very long.
 * At the top have this heading: Week of January 23, 2012 (Week 20- Warehousing) **

Week 22 - Launching Assessment Warehousing, order management, and distribution are all interrelated. It is like the formula to business. It is the process of the order being placed by the customer, the order being put together by the company, and then being delivered to the customer. For instance, if Wal-Mart needed 1,000 candy bars, they would fill out a form electronically most times that would go to the Hershey Company letting them know that the Wal-Mart in Harrisburg need 1,000 candy bars and the date they need them by. Then, the Hershey Company will then take that order and have it put together in the warehouse. For example, Wal-Mart might want 500 Kit Kats and 500 Hershey Bars, that will then be put assembled. Finally, this product is loaded onto a truck which is usually cooled in the back by a refrigerator to keep the chocolate from melting and then dropped off at the Wal-Mart facility. This process is redone multiple times, but instead of servicing the order s that comes in first, they are done completed by the level of urgency of the product by the costumer. Another example might be, if I work for Hess Gas Station, I may see that I am running low on Reese Cups, I will put in my order but make them aware that I will need them in approximately two weeks, they will not start my order right away, they will complete the orders that are needed within the next day or so and then start on mine when they have time since my isn’t “high urgency”.

I find public relations to be an incredible job. It is a job that I could actually see myself doing because I am able to interact with people, work with celebrities, and try to resolve issues. Public relations differ from advertising because advertising is done more so to talk about a product, and to get people to purchase a product, while public relations is about talking about new products, issues, and various topics to inform the public. Public relations is something that everyone needs, Milton Hershey School has PR people, Disney has PR people, PB has PR people, and their main role is to make the company look good.
 * 1. In 5 - 7 sentences, describe your impressions of PR and how it differs from advertising. Which method of communication (PR or Advertising) interests you the most? Why?**

Advertising is something that companies use to show off a product or to bring attention to a company which can in-turn raise sales. Advertising is something that can be as little as a flyer or as big as a commerical or bilboard. It can be very expensive. I like advertising because it sometimes make me laugh, but I dislike commercials sometimes because they can seem annoying and more like an interruption. Yes, I would consider a career in advertising because its interactive. I love to work with people, and you j to be able to use my creativity. Lastly, it allows you to travel and meet alot of famous people.
 * 1. In 5 - 7 sentences, describe your impressions of Advertising. What did you like about it? Would you consider a career in advertising? Why? Why not?**